My brother and I didn't get an allowance but we still found ways to earn money.  Before we were old enough to be employed we sought ways to make money on our own.  Instead of lemonade we picked blueberries and sold them from a little stand on the side of our road.  We picked up recyclables whenever we came across them and redeemed them for nickles and dimes.  Our entrepreneurship didn't ever pay off the way we envisioned but it did allow us to save up a little bit of money.  Our parents would double whatever money we had saved and we used that to purchase gifts at Christmas time. 

My brother was very artistic and he loved making things to give as gifts.  One Christmas when we were quite young he used what he found on hand in the house; cardboard, fishing line, glitter and glue. He made Christmas ornaments for everyone in the family and he wrote on the back of each one.  He wrote who the ornament was for and that it was from him and he also wrote the date.  

 Mine was a heart covered with red sparkles.  It's been over 30 years and I still have it. Every Christmas I carefully open the box and unwrap the the layers of tissues that protect it.  It has lost a few sparkles over the years but it still catches the light as it dangles from one of the top branches of the Christmas tree.  

The gifting of ornaments remained a tradition for decades and now I have boxes and boxes of sentimental ornaments.  Each has the date and who it was to and from so as I unpack the Christmas decorations, I unpack memories that I cherish.  I share the memories with my children as we decorate the tree together.  

Our tree may not be stylized and perfectly decorated like so many I see posted on social media these days and that is just fine with me.  Our Christmas tree is one of a kind just like my brother was.  

Miss you.

Thinking of you on your Birthday,Got my snowmobile out yesterday and thought of you and the times we went snowmobiling together.Miss you my friend.